Plant Profile: Soapberry

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

NOTE: This entry is  not even slightly historical, and my own research/intuition. I'm one of the only people I know of that keeps this plant around, and the only one I know of who uses it in woo (thus far).  So, please attribute accordingly, and try not to be a bad neighbor. This post is also an ooooooold draft, which I am now posting to ensure this blog doesn't go dormant again. 

Sometimes a plant catches my eye. Usually while I'm driving somewhere, or taking a walk. I've known for years that the berries of this tree were used as a soap substitute by the Mormon wagon trains, but never really knew anything else. Curiosity finally won out.

It's not a big tree, but they are lovely. The bark is thick and craggy, the berries look like little burning suns when the light hits them. But what use could they have (aside from the obvious) for this witch? How do I dig deeper and discover the uses of this plant?

The Faithful Retinue.

It starts with an itch. I can't define where it is. It becomes annoying. Then it is a thirst, and it gnaws. Then it is a buzzing that won't cease. Then it is a call, subtle and sweet as music. It is the music that is the most maddening.  I wrap myself in my ritual robe, I slip my blade into it's sheath, and I run - barefoot - into the woods.

First I run. I run like a hunted beast. Then I dance, dance to the music only I can hear. Then I sing, shaping the tune with my voice. It is a song of summoning, of seduction, of fearful prey. Then I cease to sing and only bellow. The bellowing becomes a howl. And I find myself on all fours. I can only howl, and moan. My mouth hangs open, and I am drooling onto the soil.

I tear at the robe, and hunch naked on the ground. I am beyond sensation. The spirits are coming. They are on me, in me, over me, beside me. This is what the Maenads felt. Were there more than me in the woods we would rip at each-other with our teeth, and fuck like animals.

I am aware of only my eyes, and a spot somewhere above and behind them. I cannot communicate with the rest of my body - it is no longer just mine. It is Him. And it is something else entirely. It is a sensation like the rolling waves of orgasm, but it does not cease, does not plateau, does not decrease. It grows ever-stronger, and begins to consume me.

But it is not me. And I twist, and fall, and slither on the ground. I dig my fingers in the loam, worms crawl up my arms. Torches flickering, lamplight, owls hissing and screeching in the trees, wine runs from my lips, satyrs run through the undergrowth - the world around me dissolves into thousands of years of revelry. Vines grow through my skin, using my bones as their trellis. I am utterly broken down, into dust, into loam, into mold.

And suddenly there is a stillness and clarity in the chaos of my destruction. My mind slips itself, and becomes another. Fluid flows through me, and my limbs come alive. I begin to see through other eyes, and hear through other ears. I speak with a voice that is not mine... and I don't understand. Suddenly the whole of creation is alive around me, with figures darting here and there. They are the pipers of the circle, my faithful retinue.
Because, I am no longer the witch in the woods, nor the maenad in the leaves. I am the god who comes.

A Charm Against The Evil Eye.

This charm/spell is adapted from the Carmina Gadelica. It combines elements from several of the charms found there, giving it a little more punch, and a bit of bite. I use this, among other protective prayers when I feel that things might be getting a bit hinky. The Evil Eye can be cast through malevolent prayer, through spellwork, and even through raw envy or spite.

I trample upon the eye,
as tramples the duck upon the lake, as tramples the swan upon the water,
as tramples the horse upon the plain, as tramples the crow upon the grain,
as tramples the host of the elements, as tramples the host of the elements.
Power of Wind I have over it. Power of Wrath I have over it.
Power of Fire I have over it. Power of Thunder I have over it.
Power of Lightening I have over it. Power of Storms I have over it.
Power of Moon I have over it. Power of Sun I have over it.
Power of Stars I have over it. Power of Firmament I have over it.
Power of Heavens, and of worlds I have over it.
In the name of the Tree of Life, and the utterance of the Sacred Names,
In the name of all of the Secret Ones, and of the Powers together I say...
Whosoever made this eye, may it lie upon himself, may it lie upon his house,
may it lie upon his flocks, may it lie upon his substance, may it lie upon his fatness,
may it lie upon his means, may it lie upon his children, may it lie upon his works.
I will subdue the eye (Horns up) - I will suppress this eye (Fig down) - I will banish this eye (flip the bird).